Review: Wreck-It-Ralph

THE SETUP: Ever have a job you were good at but never recognized or respected for? The feeling just followed you home and impacted your relationships? Video game bad guy Wreck-It-Ralph (John C. Reilly) feels your pain and looks to do something about it.

THE THOUGHTS: Why has it taken this long for a proper video game movie? Take some top shelf voice talent, add humour and a storyline, litter it with characters from our game playing childhood and don’t screw it up with bad special effects and preachy-ness. How hard could it be? Apparently, pretty difficult, as it took until now to make Wreck-It-Ralph.

The animation is absolutely amazing, the characters are cute and full of heart without being annoying (Jane Lynch is pretty awesome), there are no musical numbers (bonus points), and the cameos by Qbert, Sonic the Hedgehog and Pac-Man were great.

I actually would have liked to have a seen a few more characters, though I heard getting permission from their owners wasn’t the easiest thing (dumbasses…great exposure for long dead properties). And, if I had any other gripe, they spend too much time in the Sugar Rush game (a sort of cross between Mario Kart and Strawberry Shortcake) and not enough hopping around others. The 3D is good but not a deal breaker.

WRECK-IT-RALPH Rating:4 stars – you’d recommend this. It’s not often these days you get a movie that the adults and kids are going to like, unless it has Pixar in the title. Wreck-It-Ralph is another to add to that short list.

Random RecommendationsCedar Rapids (2011) – One of those little movies that didn’t get a lot of marketing behind it so that you’ve actually heard about it, but still worth a watch. An insurance man (Ed Helms) is trying to impress the “cool kids” at a big convention, unfortunately he’s being guided by idiots (including John C. Reilly).